MentorMe.Art
A platform for digital-arts mentors to teach and empower mentees
Role
Entire platform design from research to conception and design
Team
Jennifer Lau, No Boundaries Design LLC
Shivram Mahedran, Latice Design
Duration
October 2019–July 2020
A place for the art community to connect.
MentorMe.Art is a mentoring platform aimed at students of all kinds of digital-art, whether 3D modeling, environment modeling, environmental design, or character design. Students are paired up with mentors in whatever field they’re most interested in. The outcome is to have students prepared to work in the entertainment, movie, or game business.Excited and driven, Shannon, the founder of MentorMe.art, found a turning point within herself and career embarking on this new journey. Her goal is to give to the art world what it is missing.
Background
Excited about Shannon’s initiative due to the passion and knowing the art and design industry, I took on the Principal UX/UI Designer project. I led the brand strategy, design, and UX/UI for the entirety of the project. There were a lot of memorable moments I’ve learned as a designer:
- Brand Strategy is Still King. All projects I take on require a form of strategy to understand the direction of how this product is going to unfold. I asked questions to understand better who I was designing this for. Without it, the colors, language, and soul of MentorMe.art would not come alive.
- Treat Your Primary and Secondary Audience as One of Your Own. I’ve learned that whether your audience is mentors or students, they deserve a great experience. I dedicate my time to understand who these people are to build an excellent product for MentorMe.art.
- Communication is Key. The complex project required a lot of understanding and team-work. Without the in-depth knowledge of Shannon’s or Shivram’s, there would be no MentorMe.Art.
Question
How do we to give to the art world what it is missing?
— Jennifer Lau, Principal Creative, No Boundaries Design LLC
Understanding the problem
I asked Shannon a series of questions to understand more of the problem she is looking to solve with MentorMe.art. Based on her observation in the digital-art space and her own, she felt like:
Lack of feedback received in an instructional setting. She felt their schools lacked proper feedback and guidance to students and those looking to start their career off early in their development.
Lack of direction. Students feels lost because there is a lack of direction for the career he/she is pursuing.
Not Broad enough. Schools are not broad enough with what one would like to learn.I asked Shannon a series of questions to understand more of the problem she is looking to solve with MentorMe.art. Based on her observation in the digital-art space and her own, she felt like:
Understanding the goal
We concluded we had to focus on who their users are, how they are guided with their mentor, and how to make the platform part of a community.
Understand who MentorMe.Art’s primary and secondary users are.
Build a platform that is efficient and easy for the user(s) to use.
Building a platform to be part of a growing community.
Establishing key audiences
After identifying the initial discovery, my main priority was to define who MentorMe.Art’s users are. Collectively, they are those who are open-minded, eager to learn, and self-driven. Through this exercise,
I was able to identify two user types—a mentee and mentors.
Primary: Mentee
- Students / a self-taught artist readying to transition his/her career.
- Open to learning and new experiences.
- Has a hunger to learn.
- Likely to follow artists like Gabriel Picolo, Pernille Oreum.
- Does inking, digital art.
Uses Instagram.
Secondary: Mentor
- Currently working and is looking to earn extra income.
- Aims to become a marketable freelancer.
- Has a healthy work-life balance.
- Uses social media platforms like Instagram, Youtube, and conventions to help spread the word.
- Likely to follow pages like Copic, Pentel, Pixar, and Dreamworks as his/her aspiration to either have them sponsor or for him/her to work for.
Understanding the struggles and solutions.
Part of understanding the struggles and solutions MentorMe.art offers is knowing what features will be implemented on the platform. Based on the user personas, I concluded that the platform had to be easy to use, flexible, and subtly vibrant.
Pains
Lack of feedback from instructors.
Lack of information about a subject.
Lack of guidance from school instructors and counselors
Gains
A mentee will have a mentor to guide him/her to on a specific criteria of interest.
A mentee will have a mentor to guide him/her to the area he/she wants to focus on.
A mentor is made available on an one-on-one basis. The mentor is able to critique the mentee.
Creating scenarios & storyboards
Part of understanding the struggles and solutions MentorMe.art offers is knowing what features will be implemented on the platform. Based on the user personas, I concluded that the platform had to be easy to use, flexible, and subtly vibrant.
Mentee storyboard
Mentor storyboard
Listed are two the many flows I did for MentorMe.Art
Wireframing the vision
Based on the scenarios and storyboard, I worked towards potential solutions that feature the following in the wireframes using Omnigraffle: payment gateway, a calendar system, and a way for the mentees and mentors to keep track of their sessions.
Wireframing was a great way to understand the flow of how the platform was going to function.
When I set out to create MentorMe.art and approached No Boundaries Design to look after the UX and graphic design of the platform, I knew straight away I had gone to the right place. Jennifer was on top of the project from day one. Not only did she source a developer for the project within my budget but she also made sure to keep on top of the timeline by chasing the developer and even me at times! This was great because it avoided delays and reminded me to review and approve things that might have otherwise slipped my mind.
The finished product was perfect on so many levels.
UX is Jennifer’s passion. And that is so apparent in the finished product. She took my ideas and improved them tenfold.
Graphic design is another area she excelled in. Our logo tells a story, is impactful, and stays in people’s minds. Exactly what you want from a logo. And the rest of the platform looks beautiful.
The value she added to the project overall was fantastic and I cannot recommend working with No Boundaries Design enough.
Shannon
Owner of Mentorme.art